Inking roller assembly

ABSTRACT

An inking roller for a rotary printing drum such as found in a postage printing machine for rotation on a shaft removably mounted on a separable holder. The holder, when it is to be assembled to the machine, is manipulated so that the ends of the shaft enter slots in a bracket fixed to the machine, after which the holder may be pivoted about the shaft into assembled relation to the bracket, with the roller in position to engage the printing surface of said drum and to rotate therewith. The rotation of the drum is such as to apply torque to the holder when rotating the roller, whereby to help maintain the holder assembled to the bracket.

United States Patent [1 1 Franchinot et al.

[ Sept. 18, 1973 INKING ROLLER ASSEMBLY [58] Field of Search [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 321,223 I 6/1885 Keeler 101/329 1,244,524 10/1917 Marshall 101/352 X 8/1958 Uthenwoldtet a1. l01/9l 9/1970 Marion et a1. 101/352 X Primary Examiner-J. Reed Fisher Attorney-William D. Soltow, Jr., Albert W. Scribner, Martin D. Wittstein and Louis A. Tirelli [57] ABSTRACT An inking roller for a rotary printing drum such as found in a postage printing machine for rotation on a shaft removably mounted on a separable holder. The holder, when it is to be assembled to the machine, is manipulated so that the ends of the shaft enter slots in a bracket fixed to the machine, after which the holder may be pivoted about the shaft into assembled relation to the bracket, with the roller in position to engage the printing surface of said drum and to rotate therewith. The rotation of the drum is such as to apply torque to the holder when rotating the roller, whereby to help maintain the holder assembled to the bracket.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENIED SEP l 8 I973 INVENTORS PAUL G. FRANCHINOT LAWRENCE J. KRESAN 1 INKING ROLLER ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an improved inking device and mounting arrangement therefor.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Ink roller assemblies for use with rotary printing drums are old in the printing art, however, so far as is known, effective readily removable inking roller assemblies for postage printing machines permitting swift removal or assembly of an inking roller together with a holder on which the roller is mounted, have not been contributed to the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a holder for an inking roller which may be readily assembled in or removed from an operative position in a printing machine. As a feature of the invention,.the holder together. with the inking roller assembled thereto, may be manipulated so as to bring the holder into a final assembled position in a printing machine, with the inking'roller adapted to be contacted by the rotary printing drum so as to ink the drum. As an additional particular feature of the invention, the action of the drum when contacting the inking roller is such that the torque applied to the hiking roller will react against the holder which action tends to press it towards its assembled position in the maqhine.

' As a further feature of the invention, the holder is formed with particular stop means adapted to'engage stops on a bracket to which the holder is assembled, there being yielding detent means operatively disposed between the bracket and the holder for yieldingly resisting movement of the holder into assembledposition on the machine bracket, and also yieldingly resisting the movement of the holder away from assembled position on said bracket.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an improved inking roller holder that may readily move with its inking roller into assembled position relative to the bracket of a printing machine through manipulation of the holder.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exploded view showing the inking roller and the holder together with the parts mounting the roller for rotation.

FIG. 2 is a vertical elevational view of the-bracket of the machine to which the holder is assembled.v

FIG. 3'is an elevational view taken along line 3-3 of FIG.2. l I

' FIG. 4 is a side elevational view showing the holder in the initial position to which it is moved for assembly to the bracket.

FIG. 5 is aside elevational view showing the holder in its final assembled relation to the bracket, with the inking roller in its operative position relative toithe printing drum of the machine.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT roller, it may be made of two or three or more roller parts. A male arbor 12 is adapted to enter one end of an opening 13 in roller 11, while a female arbor 14 enters the other end of the opening 13. Each of the arbors l2 and 14 is formed with suitable barbs 15 adapted to be embedded in the end surfaces of roller 11 so that the arbors will rotate toget er with the roller 11. A part 16 of the arbor l2 enters a bore 17 in arbor 14 when the two arbors are assembled in opening 13 of inking roller 11, and a shaft 19 extends through an axial bore 18 formed in arbor 12 so that the two arbors and the inking roller 11 will rotate on the shaft 19.

The holder 10 is formed with opposed end walls 25 and 26, each having an open ended slot 27 terminating in a bearing opening 28. Each end of the shaft 19 is formed with a groove 29 thereby leaving a necked portion of the shaft adapted to snap into the bearing openings 28, the material of the walls at slots 27 and the adjacent elongated openings 2* permit yielding of the side walls for this purpose. The shaft 19 will thus be held against axial movement in the holder 10 and will function as part of the holder.

The holder 10 is formed also with a pair of stop lugs 30, a finger piece 31 and a detent lug 32, these several parts being utilized in the assembly of the holder to a bracket 35.forming part of the machine for which the inking roller 11 is intended. The bracket 35,, as is well seen in FIGS. 2 5 inclusive, may be formed of any suitable material, but preferably will be fabricated from sheet metal. It has a pair of opposed bearing arms 36, each of which is formed with a bearing surface 37 adapted for receiving the op osed ends of the shaft 19 ofthe holder assembly. Bracket 35 is also provided with a detent tongue or portion 38 that is adapted to coact with the yieldable detent lug 32 of the holder 10. Bracket 35 is further equipped with upper stop edges 39 that areadapted to coactwith the stop means 30 of the holder 10.

Referring now to- FIG. 4, the rotary printing drum of the machine for which the inking roller 11 is intended, is designated by reference numeral S, and as shown, has a dwell or non-printing peripheral portion 40 opposite which the roller 11 is positioned when assembled in the machine. After a slight amount of rotation of the drum S, the outer printing surfaces thereof adjacent the dwell 40 will contact the roller 11 and be suitable inked as is well understood in the art. It is to be noted that the dwell is opposite the roller 11 when the printing drum is in its normal position.

In assemblying the holder 10 to the bracket 35 the holder will be held by the finger piece 31 and manipulated into position on bracket 35 with the ends of the shaft 19 held against the surfaces 37 of arms 36. In this position of the parts the opposed walls 25 and 26 of the holder l0will be located just inside of therespective arms 36 of the'bracket so that the holder will not move transversely relative to bracket 35. By rotating the holder 10 relative to the bracket 35 and-about the axis of shaft 19, the detent portion 38 will deflect the yieldable detent lug 32 to the right in FIG. 4 until detent lug 32 will be held by detent portion 38 against movement back to the FIG. 4 position. In-this position of the parts, the stop means 30 will be held yieldingly against stop edges 39, and'the holder will be in its final assembled position with the inking roller 11 adapted to be contacted by said printing drum when the latter is rotated.

Because of the arrangement of the several parts, and the rotation of the drum S in a counterclockwise direction as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, torque is applied to the holder by rotation of the roller 1 1 and this action will function to assist detent 32 and yielding detent 38 in maintaining the holder 35 in its final assembled position shown in FIG. 5.

It will be seen that the entire assembly of the holder 10 and the roller 11 may be readily moved into and out of assembled position on the bracket 35 without application of undue force and without a tool. It will also be seen that upon removal of the inking roller assembly the inking roller itself may readily be removed, reinked, and then together with its holder, again assembled to bracket 35.

Since the foregoing description and drawings are merely illustrative, the scope of protection of the invention has been more broadly stated in the following claims; and these should be liberally interpreted so as to obtain the benefit of all equivalents to which the invention is fairly entitled.

What is claimed is:

1. In a printing machine:

a shaft;

an inking roller carried by said shaft;

means for rotably supporting said shaft including a holder having a pair of spaced side walls and an end wall between said side walls;

said holder being formed with a detent lug and at least one stop lug on said end wall; and

a bracket having a pair of spaced bearing arms which are adapted to receive and support the respective ends of said shaft so that said inking roller is disposed between said arms and an end wall between said bearing arms;

said bracket being formed with a detent tongue on said end wall that is adapted to yieldably cooperate with said detent lug and with a step edge that is adapted to cooperate with said stop lug whereby said holder and inking roller may be detachably mounted on said bracket.

2. Apparatus as defined by claim 1 wherein said bracket is provided with open slots into which said end portions of said shaft are inserted prior to the pivoting of the holder to a final assembled position on said bracket.

3. Apparatus as defined by claim 1 wherein said shaft and said opposed spaced walls are formed to accommodate bodily movement of said shaft into assembled position on said holder with said roller between said walls, and the ends of said shaft beyond said walls shaped to enter slots formed in said bracket.

4. An inking roller assembly adapted to be used in a printing machine having a rotatable printing drum, and

a bracket secured to said printing machine, said bracket having detent means and a stop means thereon: comprising an inking roller;

an inking roller holder including opposed spaced side walls between and on which said roller is received for rotation;

said bracket having parts adapted to releasably engage said inking roller holder;

detent means on said inking roller holder adapted to coact with the said detent means on said bracket; a stop on said inking roller holder and adapted to coact with the said stop means on said bracket when said inking roller holder is in its assembled position on said bracket, in which position the periphery of said inking roller is positioned to contact the printing surface of said rotary printing drum;

said inking roller holder including a shaft on which said inking roller is rotatably mounted; and

said parts of said bracket being adapted to releasably engage inking roller holder including means en gaging said shaft for allowing said roller holder to pivot about the axis of said shaft relative to parts of said bracket when said bracket is in releasable engagement with said inking roller holder.

5. The machine of claim 4 wherein said holder detent means resist the force exerted by said rotary printing drum which tends to rotatively force the inking roller holder out of operative engagement with said bracket.

6. The machine of claim 5 wherein said inking roller holder includes a finger piece extending in the direction away from said printing drum, thereby permitting pressure to be exerted on the inking roller holder in such a manner as to overcome the coaction of said holder detent means and said bracket detent means. 

1. In a printing machine: a shaft; an inking roller carried by said shaft; means for rotably supporting said shaft including a holder having a pair of spaced side walls and an end wall between said side walls; said holder being formed with a detent lug and at least one stop lug on said end wall; and a bracket having a pair of spaced bearing arms which are adapted to receive and support the respective ends of said shaft so that said inking roller is disposed between said arms and an end wall between said bearing arms; said bracket being formed with a detent tongue on said end wall that is adapted to yieldably cooperate with said detent lug and with a stop edge that is adapted to cooperate with said stop lug whereby said holder and inking roller may be detachably mounted on said bracket.
 2. Apparatus as defined by claim 1 wherein said bracket is provided with open slots into which said end portions of said shaft are inserted prior to the pivoting of the holder to a final assembled position on said bracket.
 3. Apparatus as defined by claim 1 wherein said shaft and said opposed spaced walls are formed to accommodate bodily movement of said shaft into assembled position on said holder with said roller between said walls, and the ends of said shaft beyond said walls shaped to enter slots formed in said bracket.
 4. An inking roller assembly adapted to be used in a printing machine having a rotatable printing drum, and a bracket secured to said printing machine, said bracket having detent means and a stop means thereon: comprising an inking roller; an inking roller holder including opposed spaced side walls between and on which said roller is received for rotation; said bracket having parts adapted to releasably engage said inking roller holder; detent means on said inking roller holder adapted to coact with the said detent means on said bracket; a stop on said inking roller holder and adapted to coact with the said stop means on said bracket when said inking roller holder is in its assembled position on said bracket, in which position the periphery of said inking roller is positioned to contact the printing surface of said rotary printing drum; said inking roller holder including a shaft on which said inking roller is rotatably mounted; and said parts of said bracket being adapted to releasably engage inking roller holder including means engaging said shaft for allowing said roller holder to pivot about the axis of said shaft relative to parts of said bracket when said bracket is in releasable engagement with said inking roller holder.
 5. The machine of claim 4 wherein said holder detent means resist the force exerted by said rotary printing drum which tends to rotatively force the inking roller holder out of operative engagement with said bracket.
 6. The machine of claim 5 wherein said inking roller holder includes a finger piece extending in the direction away from said printing drum, thereby permitting pressure to be exerted on the inking roller holder in such a manner as to overcome the coaction Of said holder detent means and said bracket detent means. 